Trans-Atlantic bandwidth – the hangover lingers

from Telegeography:

>>Trans-Atlantic bandwidth – the hangover lingers

Despite the balancing of supply, demand, and price since the turmoil of the early 2000s, the market for trans-Atlantic bandwidth faces a looming supply hurdle. The trans-Atlantic submarine cable market was a stark example of the capacity glut in the early 2000s. Six new cables entered service between 2000 and 2003, greatly exceeding near-term requirements. The excess capacity and competition crushed prices, resulting in a wave of bankruptcies and financial restructuring.

The bandwidth glut now lies well in the past: rapidly growing international bandwidth requirements restored the balance of supply and demand, and cable operators have been adding capacity to their networks since 2004. Superficially, the trans-Atlantic market now appears sound: prices have stabilized, and demand grew 38% in 2008. However, clouds loom on the horizon.

Amazon Video on Demand

from: newTeeVee

>>Amazon bridges current offerings from iTunes, Hulu, and Netflix, though it’s important to note that, like iTunes, none of its content is ad-supported. It beats iTunes on TV because it has NBC, and it beats Hulu on movies because it has far more of them. Netflix’s movie service, meanwhile, only provides streaming for PCs.

In my early tests, streaming on a Mac works great, even over the EVDO connection I’m using right now. The video picks up nicely wherever you scan through the status bar. Amazon is also offering free 2-minute previews of each movie and episode.